Suffolk thanks workers, creates gang task force

SUFFOLK

After two years without a raise, municipal workers will soon get a reward for helping the city reach a $3.5 million budget surplus. The City Council approved the $1 million expenditure Wednesday as part of a plan to spend what was left from the fiscal year ending June 30.

Eligible employees on the 1,200-plus work force will get an average bonus of 2.3 percent in December. They must meet some requirements, including performance evaluation standards, City Manager Selena Cuffee-Glenn said.

Cost-cutting measures by employees last year helped turn a projected $3.9 million revenue shortfall into the surprise surplus.

"We're just trying to say thank you in a meaningful way," Mayor Linda Johnson told a crowded council chamber that was filled with workers.

Council members also approved spending about $433,000 to target gang activity in North Suffolk, using $550,000 to temporarily bring back bulk trash services and putting $1.5 million toward the city's reserve fund.

The police money will pay for a task force of five officers and one sergeant to deal with gang activity in and around the College Drive area of North Suffolk. It will create the city's second Neighborhood Enforcement Team. The first team has helped keep a lid on violent activity downtown, but "they're stretched a little thin," Police Chief Thomas Bennett said.

A second team would target the College Drive area, which is starting to see more violent crimes and an influx of gang activity from nearby neighborhoods in Portsmouth and Chesapeake, Bennett said.

A majority of the money for the second team - about $293,000 - will be for one-time equipment costs. The team would be ready to start by Jan. 1, Bennett said.

The expenditure on bulk refuse pick ups would make that service free again beginning Dec. 1, and keep it that way at least until June 30. Residents would get up to 12 free pick ups for loads no bigger than 8 cubic yards. Larger piles will still cost $50.

The City Council started charging for the service this year to help it balance its budget, drawing the ire of many residents.

"If we had known there was going to be a surplus, we never would have stopped the service," Councilman Charles Parr said.

The remainder of the surplus will go into the city's undesignated general fund balance, a reserve fund that can be tapped for emergencies. The city is trying to build the balance, in part to improve its credit rating for bonds.

Dave Forster, (757) 222-5563, dave.forster@pilotonline.com